CONFERENCE 1.
FIRST CONFERENCE OF ABBOT MOSES.
ON THE GOAL OR THE AIM OF THE MONK.
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Of our stay in Scete, and that which we proposed to
Abbot Moses.
WHEN I was in the desert of Scete, where are the most excellent
monastic fathers and where all perfection flourishes, in company with
the holy father Germanus (who had since the earliest days and
commencement of our spiritual service been my closest companion both
in the coenobium and in the desert, so that to show the harmony of our
friendship and aims, everybody would say that a single heart and soul
existed in our two bodies), I sought out Abbot Moses,[5] who was eminent amid those splendid
flowers, not only in practical but also in contemplative excellence,
in my anxiety to be grounded by his instruction: and together we
implored him to give us a discourse for our edification; not without
tears, for we knew full well his determination never to consent to
open the gate of perfection, except to those who desired it with all
faithfulness, and sought it with all sorrow of heart; for fear lest if
he showed it at random to those who cared nothing for it, or only
desired it in a half-hearted way, by opening what is necessary, and
what ought only to be discovered to those seeking perfection, to
unworthy persons, and such as accepted it with scorn, he might appear
to lay himself open either to the charge of bragging, or to the sin of
betraying his trust; and at last being overcome by our prayers he thus
began.
Of the question of Abbot Moses, who asked what was
the goal and what the end of the monk.
ALL the arts and sciences, said he, have some goal or mark; and end or
aim of their own, on which the diligent pursuer of each art has his
eye, and so endures all sorts of toils and dangers and losses,
cheerfully and with equanimity, e.g., the farmer, shunning neither at
one time the scorching heat of the sun, nor at another the frost and
cold, cleaves the earth unweariedly, and again and again subjects the
clods of his field to his ploughshare, while he keeps before him his
goal; viz., by diligent labour to break it up small like fine sand,
and to clear it of all briers, and free it from all weeds, as he
believes that in no other way can he gain his ultimate end, which is
to secure a good harvest, and a large crop; on which he can either
live himself free from care, or can increase his possessions. Again,
when his barn is well stocked he is quite ready to empty it, and with
incessant labour to commit the seed to the crumbling furrow, thinking
nothing of the present lessening of his stores in view of the future
harvest. Those men too who are engaged in mercantile pursuits, have
no dread of the uncertainties and chances of the ocean, and fear no
risks, while an eager hope urges them forward to their aim of gain.
Moreover those who are inflamed with the ambition of military life,
while they look forward to their aim of honours and power take no
notice of danger and destruction in their wanderings, and are not
crushed by present losses and wars, while they are eager to obtain the
end of some honour held out to them. And our profession too has its
own goal and end, for which we undergo all sorts of toils not merely
without weariness but actually with delight; on account of which the
want of food in fasting is no trial to us, the weariness of our vigils
becomes a delight; reading and constant meditation on the Scriptures
does not pall upon us; and further incessant toil, and self-denial,
and the privation of all things, and the horrors also of this vast
desert have no terrors for us. And doubtless for this it was that you
yourselves despised the love of kinsfolk, and scorned your fatherland,
and the delights of this world, and passed through so many countries,
in order that you might come to us, plain and simple folk as we are,
living in this wretched state in the desert. Wherefore, said he,
answer and tell me what is the goal and end, which incite you to
endure all these things so cheerfully.
Of our reply.
AND when he insisted on eliciting an opinion from us on this question,
we replied that we endured all this for the sake of the kingdom of
heaven.
Of Abbot Moses' question on the aforesaid
statement.
TO which he replied: Good, you have spoken cleverly of the (ultimate)
end. But what should be our (immediate) goal or mark, by constantly
sticking close to which we can gain our end, you ought first to know.
And when we frankly confessed our ignorance, he proceeded: The first
thing, as I said, in all the arts and sciences is to have some goal,
i.e., a mark for the mind, and constant mental purpose, for unless a
man keeps this before him with all diligence and persistence, he will
never succeed in arriving at the ultimate aim and the gain which he
desires. For, as I said, the farmer who has for his aim to live free
from care and with plenty, while his crops are springing has this as
his immediate object and goal; viz., to keep his field clear from all
brambles, and weeds, and does not fancy that he can otherwise ensure
wealth and a peaceful end, unless he first secures by some plan of
work and hope that which he is anxious to obtain. The business man
too does not lay aside the desire of procuring wares, by means of
which he may more profitably amass riches, because he would desire
gain to no purpose, unless he chose the road which leads to it: and
those men who are anxious to be decorated with the honours of this
world, first make up their minds to what duties and conditions they
must devote themselves, that in the regular course of hope they may
succeed in gaining the honours they desire. And so the end of our way
of life is indeed the kingdom of God. But what is the (immediate)
goal you must earnestly ask, for if it is not in the same way
discovered by us, we shall strive and wear ourselves out to no
purpose, because a man who is travelling in a wrong direction, has all
the trouble and gets none of the good of his journey. And when we
stood gaping at this remark, the old man proceeded: The end of our
profession indeed, as I said, is the kingdom of God or the kingdom of
heaven: but the immediate aim or goal, is purity of heart, without
which no one can gain that end: fixing our gaze then steadily on this
goal as if on a definite mark, let us direct our course as straight
towards it as possible, and if our thoughts wander somewhat from this,
let us revert to our gaze upon it, and check them accurately as by a
sure standard, which will always bring back all our efforts to this
one mark, and will show at once if our mind has wandered ever so
little from the direction marked out for it.
A comparison with a man who is trying to hit a
mark.
AS those, whose business it is to use weapons of war, whenever they
want to show their skill in their art before a king of this world, try
to shoot their arrows or darts into certain small targets which have
the prizes painted on them; for they know that they cannot in any
other way than by the line of their aim secure the end and the prize
they hope for, which they will only then enjoy when they have been
able to hit the mark set before them; but if it happens to be
withdrawn from their sight, however much in their want of skill their
aim may vainly deviate from the straight path, yet they cannot
perceive that they have strayed from the direction of the intended
straight line because they have no distinct mark to prove the
skilfulness of their aim, or to show up its badness: and therefore
while they shoot their missiles idly into space, they cannot see how
they have gone wrong or how utterly at fault they are, since no mark
is their accuser, showing how far they have gone astray from the right
direction; nor can an unsteady look help them to correct and restore
the straight line enjoined on them. So then the end indeed which we
have set before us is, as the Apostle says, eternal life, as he
declares, "having indeed your fruit unto holiness, and the end
eternal life;"[6] but the immediate
goal is purity of heart, which he not unfairly terms
"sanctification," without which the afore-mentioned end
cannot be gained; as if he had said in other words, having your
immediate goal in purity of heart, but the end life eternal. Of which
goal the same blessed Apostle teaches us, and significantly uses the
very term, i.e., skopos, saying as follows,
"Forgetting those things which are behind and reaching forward to
those that are before, I press toward the mark, for the prize of the
high calling of the Lord:"[7] which
is more clearly put in Greek kata skopon
diwkw, i.e., "I press toward the mark, as if he
said, "With this aim, with which I forget those things that are
behind, i.e., the faults of earlier life, I strive to reach as the end
the heavenly prize." Whatever then can help to guide us to this
object; viz., purity of heart, we must follow with all our might, but
whatever hinders us from it, we must shun as a dangerous and hurtful
thing. For, for this we do and endure all things, for this we make
light of our kinsfolk, our country, honours, riches, the delights of
this world, and all kinds of pleasures, namely in order that we may
retain a lasting purity of heart. And so when this object is set
before us, we shall always direct our actions and thoughts straight
towards the attainment of it; for if it be not constantly fixed before
our eyes, it will not only make all our toils vain and useless, and
force them to be endured to no purpose and without any reward, but it
will also excite all kinds of thoughts opposed to one another. For
the mind, which has no fixed point to which it may return, and on
which it may chiefly fasten, is sure to rove about from hour to hour
and minute to minute in all sorts of wandering thoughts, and from
those things which come to it from outside, to be constantly changed
into that state which first offers itself to it.
Of those who in renouncing the world, aim at
perfection without love.
FOR hence it arises that in the case of some who have despised the
greatest possessions of this world, and not only large sums of gold
and silver, but also large properties, we have seen them afterwards
disturbed and excited over a knife, or pencil, or pin, or pen.
Whereas if they kept their gaze steadily fixed out of a pure heart
they would certainly never allow such a thing to happen for trifles,
while in order that they might not suffer it in the case of great and
precious riches they chose rather to renounce them altogether. For
often too some guard their books so jealously that they will not allow
them to be even slightly moved or touched by any one else, and from
this fact they meet with occasions of impatience and death, which give
them warning of the need of acquiring the requisite patience and love;
and when they have given up all their wealth for the love of Christ,
yet as they preserve their former disposition in the matter of
trifles, and are sometimes quickly upset about them, they become in
all points barren and unfruitful, as those who are without the charity
of which the Apostle speaks: and this the blessed Apostle foresaw in
spirit, and "though," says he, "I give all my goods to
feed the poor, and give my body to be burned, but have not charity, it
profiteth me nothing."[8] And from
this it clearly follows that perfection is not arrived at simply by
self-denial, and the giving up of all our goods, and the casting away
of honours, unless there is that charity, the details of which the
Apostle describes, which consists in purity of heart alone. For
"not to be envious," "not to be puffed up, not to be
angry, not to do any wrong, not to seek one's own, not to rejoice in
iniquity, not to think evil" etc., what is all this except ever
to offer to God a perfect and clean heart, and to keep it free from
all disturbances?
How peace of mind should be sought.
EVERYTHING should be done and sought after by us for the sake of this.
For this we must seek for solitude, for this we know that we ought to
submit to fastings, vigils, toils, bodily nakedness, reading, and all
other virtues that through them we may be enabled to prepare our heart
and to keep it unharmed by all evil passions, and resting on these
steps to mount to the perfection of charity, and with regard to these
observances, if by accident we have been employed in some good and
useful occupation and have been unable to carry out our customary
discipline, we should not be overcome by vexation or anger, or
passion, with the object of overcoming which, we were going to do that
which we have omitted. For the gain from fasting will not balance the
loss from anger, nor is the profit from reading so great as the harm
which results from despising a brother. Those things which are of
secondary importance, such as fastings, vigils, withdrawal from the
world, meditation on Scripture, we ought to practise with a view to
our main object, i.e., purity of heart, which is charity, and we ought
not on their account to drive away this main virtue, for as long as it
is still found in us intact and unharmed, we shall not be hurt if any
of the things which are of secondary importance are necessarily
omitted; since it will not be of the slightest use to have done
everything, if this main reason of which we have spoken be removed,
for the sake of which everything is to be done. For on this account
one is anxious to secure and provide for one's self the implements for
any branch of work, not simply to possess them to no purpose, nor as
if one made the profit and advantage, which is looked for from them,
to consist in the bare fact of possession but that by using them, one
may effectually secure practical knowledge and the end of that
particular art of which they are auxiliaries. Therefore fastings,
vigils, meditation on the Scriptures, self-denial, and the abnegation
of all possessions are not perfection, but aids to perfection: because
the end of that science does not lie in these, but by means of these
we arrive at the end. He then will practise these exercises to no
purpose, who is contented with these as if they were the highest good,
and has fixed the purpose of his heart simply on them, and does not
extend his efforts towards reaching the end, on account of which these
should be sought: for he possesses indeed the implements of his art,
but is ignorant of the end, in which all that is valuable resides.
Whatever then can disturb that purity and peace of mind--even though
it may seem useful and valuable--should be shunned as really hurtful,
for by this rule we shall succeed in escaping harm from mistakes and
vagaries, and make straight for the desired end and reach it.
Of the main effort towards the contemplation of
heavenly things and an illustration from the case of Martha and
Mary.
THIS then should be our main effort: and this steadfast purpose of
heart we should constantly aspire after; viz., that the soul may ever
cleave to God and to heavenly things. Whatever is alien to this,
however great it may be, should be given the second place, or even
treated as of no consequence, or perhaps as hurtful. We have an
excellent illustration of this state of mind and condition in the
gospel in the case of Martha and Mary: for when Martha was performing
a service that was certainly a sacred one, since she was ministering
to the Lord and His disciples, and Mary being intent only on spiritual
instruction was clinging close to the feet of Jesus which she kissed
and anointed with the ointment of a good confession, she is shown by
the Lord to have chosen the better part, and one which should not be
taken away from her: for when Martha was toiling with pious care, and
was cumbered about her service, seeing that of herself alone she was
insufficient for such service she asks for the help of her sister from
the Lord, saying: "Carest Thou not that my sister has left me to
serve alone: bid her therefore that she help me"--certainly it
was to no unworthy work, but to a praiseworthy service that she
summoned her: and yet what does she hear from the Lord? "Martha,
Martha, thou art anxious and troubled about many things: but few
things are needful, or only one. Mary hath chosen the good part, which
shall not be taken away from her."[9] You see then that the Lord makes the
chief good consist in meditation, i.e., in divine contemplation:
whence we see that all other virtues should be put in the second
place, even though we admit that they are necessary, and useful, and
excellent, because they are all performed for the sake of this one
thing. For when the Lord says: "Thou art careful and troubled
about many things, but few things are needful or only one," He
makes the chief good consist not in practical work however
praiseworthy and rich in fruits it may be, but in contemplation of
Him, which indeed is simple and "but one"; declaring that
"few things" are needful for perfect bliss, i.e., that
contemplation which is first secured by reflecting on a few saints:
from the contemplation of whom, he who has made some progress rises
and attains by God's help to that which is termed "one
thing," i.e., the consideration of God alone, so as to get beyond
those actions and services of saints, and feed on the beauty and
knowledge of God alone. "Mary" therefore "chose the
good part, which shall not be taken away from her." And this
must be more carefully considered. For when He says that Mary chose
the good part, although He says nothing of Martha, and certainly does
not appear to blame her, yet in praising the one, He implies that the
other is inferior. Again when He says "which shall not be taken
away from her" He shows that from the other her portion can be
taken away (for a bodily ministry cannot last forever with a man), but
teaches that this one's desire can never have an end.
A question how it is that the practice of virtue cannot remain with a man.
TO which we, being deeply moved, replied what then? will the effort of
fasting, diligence in reading, works of mercy, justice, piety, and
kindness, be taken away from us, and not continue with the doers of
them, especially since the Lord Himself promises the reward of the
kingdom of heaven to these works, when He says: "Come, ye blessed
of My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the beginning
of the world. For I was an hungred, and ye gave Me to eat; I was
thirsty and ye gave Me to drink:" etc.[10] How then shall these works be taken
away, which admit the doers of them into the kingdom of heaven?
The answer that not the reward, but the doing of
them will come to an end.
MOSES. I did not say that the reward for a good work would be taken
away, as the Lord Himself says: "Whosoever shall give to one of
the least of these, a cup of cold water only in the name of a
disciple, verily I say unto you, he shall not lose his
reward:"[11] but I maintain that
the doing of a thing, which either bodily necessity, or the onslaught
of the flesh, or the inequalities of this world, compel to be done,
will be taken away. For diligence in reading, and self-denial in
fasting, are usefully practised for purifying the heart and chastening
the flesh in this life only, as long as "the flesh lusteth
against the spirit,"[12] and
sometimes we see that even in this life they are taken away from those
men who are worn out with excessive toil, or bodily infirmity or old
age, and cannot be practised by them. How much more then will they
come to an end hereafter, when "this corruptible shall have put
on incorruption,"[13] and the body
which is now "a natural body" shall have risen "a
spiritual body"[14] and the flesh
shall have begun to be such that it no longer lusts against the
spirit? And of this the blessed Apostle also clearly speaks, when he
says that "bodily exercise is profitable for a little: but
godliness" (by which he certainly means love) "is profitable
for all things, having the promise of the life that now is and of that
which is to come."[15] This
clearly shows that what is said to be useful for a little, is not to
be practised for all time, and cannot possibly by itself alone confer
the highest state of perfection on the man who slaves at it. For the
term "for a little" may mean either of the two things, i.e.,
it may refer to the shortness of the time, because bodily exercise
cannot possibly last on with man both in this life and in the world to
come: or it may refer to the smallness of the profit which results
from exercising the flesh, because bodily austerities produce some
sort of beginnings of progress, but not the actual perfection of love,
which has the promise of the life that now is and of that which is to
come: and therefore we deem that the practice of the aforesaid works
is needful, because without them we cannot climb the heights of love.
For what you call works of religion and mercy are needful in this life
while these inequalities and differences of conditions still prevail;
but even here we should not look for them to be performed, unless such
a large proportion of poor, needy, and sick folk abounded, which is
brought about by the wickedness of men; viz., of those who have
grasped and kept for their own use (without however using them) those
things which were granted to all by the Creator of all alike. As long
then as this inequality lasts in this world, this sort of work will be
needful and useful to the man that practises it, as it brings to a
good purpose and pious will the reward of an eternal inheritance: but
it will come to an end in the life to come, where equality will reign,
when there will be no longer inequality, on account of which these
things must be done, but all men will pass from these manifold
practical works to the love of God, and contemplation of heavenly
things in continual purity of heart: to which those men who are urgent
in devoting themselves to knowledge and purifying the heart, have
chosen to give themselves up with all their might and main, betaking
themselves, while they are still in the flesh, to that duty, in which
they are to continue, when they have laid aside corruption, and when
they come to that promise of the Lord the Saviour, which says
"Blessed are the pure in heart for they shall see God."[16]
On the abiding character of love.
AND why do you wonder that those duties enumerated above will cease,
when the holy Apostle tells us that even the higher gifts of the Holy
Spirit will pass away: and points out that charity alone will abide
without end, saying "whether there be prophecies, they shall
fail; whether there be tongues, they shall cease: whether there be
knowledge, it will come to an end," but of this he says
"Charity never faileth." For all gifts are given for a time
as use and need require, but when the dispensation is ended they will
without doubt presently pass away: but love will never be destroyed.
For not only does it work usefully in us in this world; but also in
that to come, when the burden of bodily needs is cast off, it will
continue in far greater vigour and excellence, and will never be
weakened by any defect, but by means of its perpetual incorruption
will cling to God more intently and earnestly.[17]
A question on perseverance in spiritual
contemplation.
GERMANUS. Who then, while he is burdened with our frail flesh, can be
always so intent on this contemplation, as never to think about the
arrival of a brother, or visiting the sick, or manual labour, or at
least about showing kindness to strangers and visitors? And lastly,
who is not interrupted by providing for the body, and looking after
it? Or how and in what way can the mind cling to the invisible and
incomprehensible God, this we should like to learn.
The answer concerning the direction of the heart
towards God, and concerning the kingdom of God and the kingdom of the
devil.
MOSES. To cling to God continually, and as you say inseparably to
hold fast to meditation on Him, is impossible for a man while still in
this weak flesh of ours. But we ought to be aware on what we should
have the purpose of our mind fixed, and to what goal we should ever
recall the gaze of our soul: and when the mind can secure this it may
rejoice; and grieve and sigh when it is withdrawn from this, and as
often as it discovers itself to have fallen away from gazing on Him,
it should admit that it has lapsed from the highest good, considering
that even a momentary departure from gazing on Christ is fornication.
And when our gaze has wandered ever so little from Him, let us turn
the eyes of the soul back to Him, and recall our mental gaze as in a
perfectly straight direction. For everything depends on the inward
frame of mind, and when the devil has been expelled from this, and
sins no longer reign in it, it follows that the kingdom of God is
founded in us, as the Evangelist says "The kingdom of God cometh
not with observation, nor shall men say Lo here, or lo there: for
verily I say unto you that the kingdom of God is within you."[18] But nothing else can be "within
you," but knowledge or ignorance of truth, and delight either in
vice or in virtue, through which we prepare a kingdom for the devil or
for Christ in our heart: and of this kingdom the Apostle describes the
character, when he says "For the kingdom of God is not meat and
drink, but righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Ghost."[19] And so if the kingdom of God is
within us, and the actual kingdom of God is righteousness and peace
and joy, then the man who abides in these is most certainly in the
kingdom of God, and on the contrary those who live in unrighteousness,
and discord, and the sorrow that worketh death, have their place in
the kingdom of the devil, and in hell and death. For by these tokens
the kingdom of God and the kingdom of the devil are distinguished: and
in truth if lifting up our mental gaze on high we would consider that
state in which the heavenly powers live on high, who are truly in the
kingdom of God, what should we imagine it to be except perpetual and
lasting joy? For what is so specially peculiar and appropriate to
true blessedness as constant calm and eternal joy? And that you may
be quite sure that this, which we say, is really so, not on my own
authority but on that of the Lord, hear how very clearly He describes
the character and condition of that world: "Behold," says
He, "I create new beavers and a new earth: and the former things
shall not be remembered nor come into mind. But ye shall be glad and
rejoice forever in that which I create."[20] And again "joy and gladness
shall be found therein: thanksgiving and the voice of praise, and
there shall be month after month, and Sabbath after Sabbath."[21] And again: "they shall obtain
joy and gladness; and sorrow and sighing shall flee away."[22] And if you want to know more
definitely about that life and the city of the saints, hear what the
voice of the Lord proclaims to the heavenly Jerusalem herself: "I
will make," says He, "thine officers peace and thine
overseers righteousness. Violence shall no more be heard in thy land,
desolation nor destruction within thy borders. And salvation shall
take possession of thy walls, and praise of thy gates. The sun shall
be no more thy light by day, neither shall the brightness of the moon
give light to thee: but the Lord shall be thine everlasting light, and
thy God thy glory. Thy sun shall no more go down, neither shall thy
moon withdraw itself: but the Lord shall be thine everlasting light,
and the days of thy mourning shall be ended:"[23] and therefore the holy Apostle does
not say generally or without qualification that every joy is the
kingdom of God, but markedly and emphatically that joy alone which is
"in the Holy Ghost."[24] For
he was perfectly aware of another detestable joy, of which we hear
"the world shall rejoice,"[25] and "woe unto you that laugh, for
ye shall mourn."[26] In fact the
kingdom of heaven must be taken in a threefold sense, either that the
heavens shall reign, i.e., the saints over other things subdued,
according to this text, "Be thou over five cities, and thou over
ten;"[27] and this which is said
to the disciples: "Ye shall sit upon twelve thrones judging the
twelve tribes of Israel:"[28] or
that the heavens themselves shall begin to be reigned over by Christ,
when "all things are subdued unto Him," and God begins to be
"all in all:"[29] or else
that the saints shall reign in heaven with the Lord.
Of the continuance of the soul.
WHEREFORE every one while still existing in this body should already
be aware that he must be committed to that state and office, of which
he made himself a sharer and an adherent while in this life, nor
should he doubt that in that eternal world he will be partner of him,
whose servant and minister he chose to make himself here: according to
that saying of our Lord which says "If any man serve Me, let him
follow Me, and where I am, there shall My servant also be."[30] For as the kingdom of the devil is
gained by consenting to sin, so the kingdom of God is attained by the
practice of virtue in purity of heart and spiritual knowledge. But
where the kingdom of God is, there most certainly eternal life is
enjoyed, and where the kingdom of the devil is, there without doubt is
death and the grave. And the man who is in this condition, cannot
praise the Lord, according to the saying of the prophet which tells
us: "The dead cannot praise Thee, O Lord; neither all they that
go down into the grave (doubtless of sin). But we," says he,
"who live (not forsooth to sin nor I to this world but to God)
will bless the Lord, from this time forth for evermore: for in death
no man remembereth God: but in the grave (of sin) who will confess to
the Lord?"[31] i.e., no one will.
For no man even though he were to call himself a Christian a thousand
times over, or a monk, confesses God when he is sinning: no man who
allows those things which the Lord hates, remembereth God, nor calls
himself with any truth the servant of Him, whose commands he scorns
with obstinate rashness: in which death the blessed Apostle declares
that the widow is involved, who gives herself to pleasure, saying
"a widow who giveth herself to pleasure is dead while she
liveth."[32] There are then many
who while still living in this body are dead, and lying in the grave
cannot praise God; and on the contrary there are many who though they
are dead in the body yet bless God in the spirit, and praise Him,
according to this: "O ye spirits and souls of the righteous,
bless ye the Lord:"[33] and
"every spirit shall praise the Lord."[34] And in the Apocalypse the souls of
them that are slain are not only said to praise God but to address Him
also.[35] In the gospel too the Lord
says with still greater clearness to the Sadducees: "Have ye not
read that which was spoken by God, when He said to you: I am the God
of Abraham, and the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob. He is not the
God of the dead but of the living: for all do live unto Him."[36] Of whom also the Apostle says:
"wherefore God is not ashamed to be called their God: for He hath
prepared for them a city."[37]
For that they are not idle after the separation from this body, and
are not incapable of feeling, the parable in the gospel shows, which
tells us of the beggar Lazarus and Dives clothed in purple, one of
whom obtained a position of bliss, i.e., Abraham's bosom, the other is
consumed with the dreadful heat of eternal fire.[38] But if you care too to understand the
words spoken to the thief "To-day thou shalt be with Me in
Paradise,"[39] what do they
clearly show but that not only does their former intelligence continue
with the souls, but also that in their changed condition they partake
of some state which corresponds to their actions and deserts? For the
Lord would certainly never have promised him this, if He had known
that his soul after being separated from the flesh would either have
been deprived of perception or have been resolved into nothing. For
it was not his flesh but his soul which was to enter Paradise with
Christ. At least we must avoid, and shun with the utmost horror, that
wicked punctuation of the heretics, who, as they do not believe that
Christ could be found in Paradise on the same day on which He
descended into hell, thus punctuate "Verily, I say unto you
to-day," and making a stop apply "thou shall be with Me in
Paradise," in such a way that they imagine that this promise was
not fulfilled at once after he departed from this life, but that it
will be fulfilled after the resurrection,[40] as they do not understand what before
the time of His resurrection He declared to the Jews, who fancied that
He was hampered by human difficulties and weakness of the flesh as
they were: "No man hath ascended into heaven, but He who came
down from heaven, even the Son of man who is in heaven:"[41] by which He clearly shows that the
souls of the departed are not only not deprived of their reason, but
that they are not even without such feelings as hope and sorrow, joy
and fear, and that they already are beginning to taste beforehand
something of what is reserved for them at the last judgment, and that
they are not as some unbelievers hold resolved into nothing after
their departure from this life:[42] but
that they live a more real life, and are still more earnest in waiting
on the praises of God. And indeed to put aside for a little Scripture
proofs, and to discuss, as far as our ability permits us, a little
about the nature of the soul itself, is it not beyond the bounds of I
will not say the folly, but the madness of all stupidity, even to have
the slightest suspicion that the nobler part of man, in which as the
blessed Apostle shows, the image and likeness of God consists,[43] will, when the burden of the body with
which it is oppressed in this world is laid aside, become insensible,
when, as it contains in itself all the power of reason, it makes the
dumb and senseless material flesh sensible, by participation with it:
especially when it follows, and the order of reason itself demands
that when the mind has put off the grossness of the flesh with which
it is now weighed down, it will restore its intellectual powers better
than ever, and receive them in a purer and finer condition than it
lost them. But so far did the blessed Apostle recognize that what we
say is true, that he actually wished to depart from this flesh; that
by separation from it, he might be able to be joined more earnestly to
the Lord; saying: "I desire to be dissolved and to be with
Christ, which is far better, for while we are in the body we are
absent from the Lord:" and therefore "we are bold and have
our desire always to be absent from the body, and present with the
Lord. Wherefore also we strive, whether absent or present, to be
pleasing to Him;"[44] and he
declares indeed that the continuance of the soul which is in the flesh
is distance from the Lord, and absence from Christ, and trusts with
entire faith that its separation and departure from this flesh
involves presence with Christ. And again still more clearly the same
Apostle speaks of this state of the souls as one that is very full of
life: "But ye are come to Mount Sion, and the city of the living
God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to an innumerable company of angels,
and the church of the first born, who are written in heaven, and the
spirits of just men made perfect."[45] Of which spirits he speaks in another
passage, "Furthermore we have had instructors of our flesh, and
we reverenced them: shall we not much more be subject to the Father of
spirits and live?"[46]
How we must meditate on God.
BUT the contemplation of God is gained in a variety of ways. For we
not only discover God by admiring His incomprehensible essence, a
thing which still lies hid in the hope of the promise, but we see Him
through the greatness of His creation, and the consideration of His
justice, and the aid of His daily providence: when with pure minds we
contemplate what He has done with His saints in every generation, when
with trembling heart we admire His power with which He governs,
directs, and rules all things, or the vastness of His knowledge, and
that eye of His from which no secrets of the heart can lie hid, when
we consider the sand of the sea, and the number of the waves measured
by Him and known to Him, when in our wonder we think that the drops of
rain, the days and hours of the ages, and all things past and future
are present to His knowledge; when we gaze in unbounded admiration on
that ineffable mercy of His, which with unwearied patience endures
countless sins which are every moment being committed under His very
eyes, or the call with which from no antecedent merits of ours, but by
the free grace of His pity He receives us; or again the numberless
opportunities of salvation which He grants to those whom He is going
to adopt--that He made us be born in such a way as that from our very
cradles His grace and the knowledge of His law might be given to us,
that He Himself, overcoming our enemy in us simply for the pleasure of
His good will, rewards us with eternal bliss and everlasting rewards,
when lastly He undertook the dispensation of His Incarnation for our
salvation, and extended the marvels of His sacraments[47] to all nations. But there are
numberless other considerations of this sort, which arise in our minds
according to the character of our life and the purity of our heart, by
which God is either seen by pure eyes or embraced: which
considerations certainly no one will preserve lastingly, if anything
of carnal affections still survives in him, because "thou canst
not," saith the Lord, "see My face: for no man shall see Me
and live;"[48] viz., to this world
and to earthly affections.
A question on the changing character of the
thoughts.
GERMANUS. How is it then, that even against our will, aye and without
our knowledge idle thoughts steal upon us so subtilely and secretly
that it is fearfully hard not merely to drive them away, but even to
grasp and seize them? Can then a mind sometimes be found free from
them, and never attacked by illusions of this kind?
The answer what the mind can and what it cannot do
with regard to the state of its thoughts.
MOSES. It is impossible for the mind not to be approached by
thoughts, but it is in the power of every earnest man either to admit
them or to reject them. As then their rising up does not entirely
depend on ourselves, so the rejection or admission of them lies in our
own power. But because we said that it is impossible for the mind not
to be approached by thoughts, you must not lay everything to the
charge of the assault, or to those spirits who strive to instil them
into us, else there would not remain any free will in man, nor would
efforts for our improvement be in our power: but it is, I say, to a
great extent in our power to improve the character of our thoughts and
to let either holy and spiritual thoughts or earthly ones grow up in
our hearts. For for this purpose frequent reading and continual
meditation on the Scriptures is employed that from thence an
opportunity for spiritual recollection may be given to us, therefore
the frequent singing of Psalms is used, that thence constant feelings
of compunction may be provided, and earnest vigils and fasts and
prayers, that the mind may be brought low and not mind earthly things,
but contemplate things celestial, for if these things are dropped and
carelessness creeps on us, the mind being hardened with the foulness
of sin is sure to incline in a carnal direction and fall away.
Comparison of a soul and a millstone.
AND this movement of the heart is not unsuitably illustrated by the
comparison of a mill wheel, which the headlong rush of water whirls
round, with revolving impetus, and which can never stop its work so
long as it is driven round by the action of the water: but it is in
the power of the man who directs it, to decide whether he will have
wheat or barley or darnel ground by it. That certainly must be
crushed by it which is put into it by the man who has charge of that
business. So then the mind also through the trials of the present
life is driven about by the torrents of temptations pouring in upon it
from all sides, and cannot be free from the flow of thoughts: but the
character of the thoughts which it should either throw off or admit
for itself, it will provide by the efforts of its own earnestness and
diligence: for if, as we said, we constantly recur to meditation on
the Holy Scriptures and raise our memory towards the recollection of
spiritual things and the desire of perfection and the hope of future
bliss, spiritual thoughts are sure to rise from this, and cause the
mind to dwell on those things on which we have been meditating. But
if we are overcome by sloth or carelessness and spend our time in idle
gossip, or are entangled in the cares of this world and unnecessary
anxieties, the result will be that a sort of species of tares will
spring up, and afford an injurious occupation for our hearts, and as
our Lord and Saviour says, wherever the treasure of our works or
purpose may be, there also our heart is sure to continue.[49]
Of the three origins of our thoughts.
ABOVE all we ought at least to know that there are three origins of
our thoughts, i.e., from God, from the devil, and from ourselves.
They come from God when He vouchsafes to visit us with the
illumination of the Holy Ghost, lifting us up to a higher state of
progress, and where we have made but little progress, or through
acting slothfully have been overcome, He chastens us with most
salutary compunction, or when He discloses to us heavenly mysteries,
or turns our purpose and will to better actions, as in the case where
the king Ahasuerus, being chastened by the Lord, was prompted to ask
for the books of the annals, by which he was reminded of the good
deeds of Mordecai, and promoted him to a position of the highest
honour and at once recalled his most cruel sentence concerning the
slaughter of the Jews.[50] Or when the
prophet says: "I will hearken what the Lord God will say in
me."[51] Another too tells us
"And an angel spoke, and said in me,"[52] or when the Son of God promised that
He would come with His Father, and make His abode in us,[53] and "It is not ye that speak, but
the Spirit of your Father which speaketh in you."[54] And the chosen vessel: "Ye seek a
proof of Christ that speaketh in me."[55] But a whole range of thoughts springs
from the devil, when he endeavours to destroy us either by the
pleasures of sin or by secret attacks, in his crafty wiles deceitfully
showing us evil as good, and transforming himself into an angel of
light to us:[56] as when the evangelist
tells us: "And when supper was ended, when the devil had already
put it into the heart of Judas Iscariot, Simon's son, to
betray"[57] the Lord: and again
also "after the sop," he says, "Satan entered into
him."[58] Peter also says to
Ananias: "Why hath Satan tempted thine heart, to lie to the Holy
Ghost?"[59] And that which we
read in the gospel much earlier as predicted by Ecclesiastes: "If
the spirit of the ruler rise up against thee, leave not thy
place."[60] That too which is
said to God against Ahab in the third book of Kings, in the character
of an unclean spirit: "I will go forth and will be a lying spirit
in the mouth of all his prophets."[61] But they arise from ourselves, when
in the course of nature we recollect what we are doing or have done or
have heard. Of which the blessed David speaks: "I thought upon
the ancient days, and had in mind the years from of old, and I
meditated, by night I exercised myself with my heart, and searched out
my spirit."[62] And again:
"the Lord knoweth the thoughts of man, that they are
vain:"[63] and "the thoughts
of the righteous are judgments."[64] In the gospel too the Lord says to
the Pharisees: "why do ye think evil in your hearts?"[65]
About discerning the thoughts, with an illustration
from a good money-changer.
WE ought then carefully to notice this threefold order, and with a
wise discretion to analyse the thoughts which arise in our hearts,
tracking out their origin and cause and author in the first instance,
that we may be able to consider how we ought to yield ourselves to
them in accordance with the desert of those who suggest them so that we may,
as the Lord's command bids us, become good money-changers,[66] whose highest skill and whose training
is to test what is perfectly pure gold and what is commonly termed
tested,[67] or what is not
sufficiently purified in the fire; and also with unerring skill not to
be taken in by a common brass denarius, if by being coloured with
bright gold it is made like some coin of great value; and not only
shrewdly to recognize coins stamped with the heads of usurpers, but
with a still shrewder skill to detect those which have the image of
the right king, but are not properly made, and lastly to be careful by
the test of the balance to see that they are not under proper weight.
All of which things the gospel saying, which uses this figure, shows
us that we ought also to observe spiritually; first that whatever has
found an entrance into our hearts, and whatever doctrine has been
received by us, should be most carefully examined to see whether it
has been purified by the divine and heavenly fire of the Holy Ghost,
or whether it belongs to Jewish superstition, or whether it comes from
the pride of a worldly philosophy and only externally makes a show of
religion. And this we can do, if we carry out the Apostle's advice,
"Believe not every spirit, but prove the spirits whether they are
of God."[68] But by this kind
those men also are deceived, who after having been professed as monks
are enticed by the grace of style, and certain doctrines of
philosophers, which at the first blush, owing to some pious meanings
not out of harmony with religion, deceive as with the glitter of gold
their hearers, whom they have superficially attracted, but render them
poor and miserable for ever, like men deceived by false money made of
copper: either bringing them back to the bustle of this world, or
enticing them into the errors of heretics, and bombastic conceits: a
thing which we read of as happening to Achan in the book of Joshua the
son of Nun,[69] when he coveted a
golden weight from the camp of the Philistines, and stole it, and was
smitten with a curse and condemned to eternal death. In the second
place we should be careful to see that no wrong interpretation fixed
on to the pure gold of Scripture deceives us as to the value of the
metal: by which means the devil in his craft tried to impose upon our
Lord and Saviour as if He was a mere man, when by his malevolent
interpretation he perverted what ought to be understood generally of
all good men, and tried to fasten it specially on to Him, who had no
need of the care of the angels: saying, "For He shall give His
angels charge concerning Thee, to keep Thee in all Thy ways: and in
their hands they shall bear Thee up, lest at any time Thou dash Thy
foot against a stone"[70] by a
skilful assumption on his part giving a turn to the precious sayings
of Scripture and twisting them into a dangerous sense, the very
opposite of their true meaning, so as to offer to us the image and
face of an usurper under cover of the gold colour which may deceive
us. Or whether he tries to cheat us with counterfeits, for instance
by urging that some work of piety should be taken up which as it does
come from the true minds of the fathers, leads under the form of
virtue to vice; and, deceiving us either by immoderate or impossible
fasts, or by too long vigils, or inordinate prayers, or unsuitable
reading, brings us to a bad end. Or, when he persuades us to give
ourselves up to mixing in the affairs of others, and to pious visits,
by which he may drive us away from the spiritual cloisters of the
monastery, and the secrecy of its friendly peacefulness, and suggests
that we take on our shoulders the anxieties and cares of religious
women who are in want, that when a monk is inextricably entangled in
snares of this sort he may distract him with most injurious
occupations and cares. Or else when he incites a man to desire the
holy office of the clergy under the pretext of edifying many people,
and the love of spiritual gain, by which to draw us away from the
humility and strictness of our life. All of which things, although
they are opposed to our salvation and to our profession, yet when
covered with a sort of veil of compassion and religion, easily deceive
those who are lacking in skill and care. For they imitate the coins
of the true king, because they seem at first full of piety, but are
not stamped by those who have the right to coin, i.e., the approved
Catholic fathers, nor do they proceed from the head public office for
receiving them, but are made by stealth and by the fraud of the devil,
and palmed off upon the unskilful and ignorant not without serious
harm. And even although they seem to be useful and needful at first,
yet if afterwards they begin to interfere with the soundness of our
profession, and as it were to weaken in some sense the whole body of
our purpose, it is well that they should be cut off and cast away from
us like a member which may be necessary, but yet offends us and which
seems to perform the office of the right hand or foot. For it is
better, without one member of a command, i.e., its working or result,
to continue safe and sound in other parts, and to enter as weak into
the kingdom of heaven rather than with the whole mass of commands to
fall into some error which by an evil custom separates us from our
strict rule and the system purposed and entered upon, and leads to
such loss, that it will never outweigh the harm that will follow, but
will cause all our past fruits and the whole body of our work to be
burnt in hell fire.[71] Of which kind
of illusions it is well said in the Proverbs: "There are ways
which seem to be right to a man, but their latter end will come into
the depths of hell,"[72] and again
"An evil man is harmful when he attaches himself to a good
man,"[73] i.e., the devil
deceives when he is covered with an appearance of sanctity: "but
he hates the sound of the watchman,"[74] i.e., the power of discretion which
comes from the words and warnings of the fathers.
Of the illusion of Abbot John.
IN this manner we have heard that Abbot John who lived at Lycon,[75] was recently deceived. For when his
body was exhausted and failing as he had put off taking food during a
fast of two days, on the third day while he was on his way to take
some refreshment the devil came in the shape of a filthy Ethiopian,
and falling at his feet, cried "Pardon me because I appointed
this labour for you." And so that great man, who was so perfect
in the matter of discretion, understood that under pretence of an
abstinence practised unsuitably, he was deceived by the craft of the
devil, and engaged in a fast of such a character as to affect his worn
out body with a weariness that was unnecessary, indeed that was
harmful to the spirit; as he was deceived by a counterfeit coin, and,
while he paid respect to the image of the true king upon it, was not
sufficiently alive to the question whether it was rightly cut and
stamped. But the last duty of this "good money-changer,"
which, as we mentioned before, concerns the examination of the weight,
will be fulfilled, if whenever our thoughts suggest that anything is
to be done, we scrupulously think it over, and, laying it in the
scales of our breast, weigh it with the most exact balance, whether it
be full of good for all, or heavy with the fear of God: or entire and
sound in meaning; or whether it be light with human display or some
conceit of novelty, or whether the pride of foolish vain glory has not
diminished or lessened the weight of its merit. And so straightway
weighing them in the public balance, i.e., testing them by the acts
and proofs of the Apostles and Prophets let us hold them as it were
entire and perfect and of full weight, or else with all care and
diligence reject them as imperfect and counterfeit, and of
insufficient weight.
Of the fourfold method of discrimination.
THIS power of discriminating will then be necessary for us in the
fourfold manner of which we have spoken; viz., first that the material
does not escape our notice whether it be of true or of painted gold:
secondly, that those thoughts which falsely promise works of religion
should be rejected by us as forged and counterfeit coins, as they are
those which are not rightly stamped, and which bear an untrue image of
the king; and that we may be able in the same way to detect those
which in the case of the precious gold of Scripture, by means of a
false and heretical meaning, show the image not of the true king but
of an usurper; and that we refuse those whose weight and value the
rust of vanity has depreciated and not allowed to pass in the scales
of the fathers, as coins that are too light, and are false and weigh
too little; so that we may not incur that which we are warned by the
Lord's command to avoid with all our power, and lose the value and
reward of all our labour. "Lay not up for yourselves treasures
on the earth, where rust and moth corrupt and where thieves break
through and steal."[76] For
whenever we do anything with a view to human glory we know that we
are, as the Lord says, laying up for ourselves treasure on earth, and
that consequently being as it were hidden in the ground and buried in
the earth it must be destroyed by sundry demons or consumed by the
biting rust of vain glory, or devoured by the moths of pride so as to
contribute nothing to the use and profits of the man who has hidden
it. We should then constantly search all the inner chambers of our
hearts, and trace out the footsteps of whatever enters into them with
the closest investigation lest haply some beast, if I may say so,
relating to the understanding, either lion or dragon, passing through
has furtively left the dangerous marks of his track, which will show
to others the way of access into the secret recesses of the heart,
owing to a carelessness about our thoughts. And so daily and hourly
turning up the ground of our heart with the gospel plough, i.e., the
constant recollection of the Lord's cross, we shall manage to stamp
out or extirpate from our hearts the lairs of noxious beasts and the
lurking places of poisonous serpents.
Of the discourse of the teacher in regard to the
merits of his hearers.
AT this the old man seeing that we were astonished, and inflamed at
the words of his discourse with an insatiable desire, stopped his
speech for a little in consequence of our admiration and earnestness,
and presently added: Since your zeal, my sons, has led to so long a
discussion, and a sort of fire supplies keener zest to our conference
in proportion to your earnestness, as from this very thing I can
clearly see that you are truly thirsting after teaching about
perfection, I want still to say something to you on the excellence of
discrimination and grace which rules and holds the field among all
virtues, and not merely to prove its value and usefulness by daily
instances of it, but also from former deliberations and opinions of
the fathers. For I remember that frequently when men were asking me
with sighs and tears for a discourse of this kind, and I myself was
anxious to give them some teaching I could not possibly manage it, and
not merely my thoughts but even my very power of speech failed me so
that I could not find how to send them away with even some slight
consolation. And by these signs we clearly see that the grace of the
Lord inspires the speakers with words according to the deserts and
zeal of the hearers. And because the very short night which is before
us does not allow me to finish the discourse, let us then rather give
it up to bodily rest, in which the whole of it will have to be spent,
if a reasonable portion is refused, and let us reserve the complete
scheme of the discourse for unbroken consideration on a future day or
night. For it is right for the best counsellors on discretion to show
the diligence of their minds in the first place in this, and to prove
whether they are or can be possessors of it by this evidence and
patience, so that in treating of that virtue which is the mother of
moderation they may by no means fall into the vice which is opposite
to it; viz., that of undue length, by their actions and deeds
destroying the force of the system and nature which they recommend in
word. In regard then to this most excellent discretion, on which we
still propose to inquire, so far as the Lord gives us power, it may in
the first instance be a good thing, when we are disputing about its
excellence and the moderation which we know exists in it as the first
of virtues, not to allow ourselves to exceed the due limit of the
discussion and of our time.
And so with this the blessed Moses put a stop to our talk, and urged
us, eager though we were and hanging on his lips, to go off to bed for
a little, advising us to lie down on the same mats on which we were
sitting, and to put our bundles[77]
under our heads instead of pillows, as these being tied evenly to
thicker leaves of papyrus collected in long and slender bundles, six
feet apart, at one time provide the brethren when sitting at service
with a very low seat instead of a footstool, at another time being put
under their necks when they go to bed furnish a support for their
heads, that is not too hard, but comfortable and just right. For
which uses of the monks these things are considered especially fit and
suitable not only because they are somewhat soft, and prepared at
little cost of money and labour, as the papyrus grows everywhere along
the banks of the Nile, but also because they are of a convenient stuff
and light enough to be removed or fetched as need may require. And so
at last at the bidding of the old man we settled ourselves down to
sleep in deep stillness, both excited with delight at the conference
we had held, and also buoyed up with hope of the promised
discussion.
Next | John Cassian Index
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